Safety Profiles and Pharmacovigilance Considerations for Recently Patented Anticancer Drugs: Advanced Thyroid Cancer

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine neoplasia and represents approximately 1.5% to 2.1% of all cancers diagnosed annually worldwide. Iodine Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma (RR-DTC) and advanced/metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma are relatively uncommon yet prognostically significant thyroid cancers. Gene rearrangements resulting in the aberrant activity of tyrosine kinases have been identified as drivers of oncogenesis in a variety of cancers, including thyroid cancer. Many Multi-Kinase Inhibitors (MKIs) which are now FDA-/EMA approved for thyroid cancer have shown clinical benefit in patients with advanced cancer. Treatment related toxicities occur frequently with these drugs and can be severe or life-threatening.

Objectives: This review summarizes the role of targeted therapy with MKIs in the management of RRDTC and advanced/metastatic MTC patients, focusing on side-effect profiles of these drugs, with a presentation of several recent patents published in this field.

Methods: We review the scientific literature on advanced thyroid cancer and analyze the International Pharmacovigilance database (FAERS, Eudravigilance, and WHO Vigibase) for adverse drug reactions.

Results: This systematic analysis highlights the difference in the safety profile of the recent drugs used in the treatment of advanced thyroid cancer and the recent discoveries for diagnosis or treatment of the thyroid cancer.

Conclusion: It is essential to investigate the safety profile of recent anticancer drugs for advanced thyroid cancer to allow health professionals to make the best choice for each patient by conducting risk/benefit assessment.

Keywords: Advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma; adverse events; iodine-refractory thyroid cancer; multi-kinase inhibitors; toxicity profile..